Terrorism in the Webster’s New American Dictionary is defined as “the systematic use of intense fear as a means of coercion.” In this day and age, the term terrorism is more than just the use of intense fear as a means of coercion but includes the use of terrorism as a means of revenge and pure sport and also as a means of suppression. While the dictionaries definitions says that it is the use coercion to promote certain ideologies, some of the most cleverly hidden terrorism today is the terrorism used to suppress some ideologies or certain ethnic groups or societies. The popular image of terrorism is of extremist groups trying to rebel or promote their ideologies by blowing up airplanes, buses, government buildings, or taking hostages. By defining terrorism thoroughly, we can begin to look at what terrorism is really about. The use of terror is usually a tool to promote ideologies according to the dictionary but what about the use of terror for revenge? After the Serb withdrawal from Kosovo this past month, there was a rash of terrorist acts committed by Albanians against Serbs. The Serb civilian population of Kosovo was not a threat to the Albanians but the violence against them was not one of coercion but of revenge. The hostage crisis at the American embassy in Teheran twenty years ago was another example of terrorism based on revenge. While that incident involved the political theme of the revolution in Iran and the authorities used it to promote their Islamic ideology, those that carried out the hostage crisis took over the embassy in a fit of rage and under the euphoria of anger against anything American. They had already achieved their goal, which was to rid the American backed Shah who ruled the country with terror; the hostage crisis was merely an outburst of revenge against the west. Terrorism is not just coercion, but it also revenge. The use of terror to punish the victim and remind them of what the enactor of the terror had felt. There are other examples of terrorism that fit under revenge but those are a combination of revenge and political or social coercion. Revenge motivated extremist groups with political or social coercion are well publicized but how are their actions different from that of states? The terrorism that comes to mind is of the PLO hijacking Israeli airplanes or Ben Laden bombing the American embassies in Africa.
The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives (fbi.gov).” By this definition, terrorism can be classified as internal or international based on the overall intent of the attack. Terrorism has been around since the beginning of time, but it’s only since 2011 that the world has come to fully understand the meaning of terrorism. The following paragraphs will highlight four different types of terrorist attacks that all took place within the United States spanning over a 40 year time period.
Within the world today, there are many organizations with varying opinions about specific ideals. But some of the organizations will take things to the extreme, and will do almost anything to prove that their view is the right one. This extreme act to further an objective is known as terrorism, but what exactly is a formal definition of terrorism? Frank Schmalleger defines it as “[a] violent act or an act dangerous to human life, in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any state, that is committed to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (Criminal Justice Today, 2013 p.560). The American way of life and other aspects such as policy and the criminal justice system have been impacted by terrorism in many ways over the course of the twenty first century.
Terrorism is focused on a one-sided belief that dictates massive destruction of institutions, foundations and national symbols. It represents a philosophy, which does not comply with common sense. Terrorism acts are a matter of individual psychology, relentless ideology, religious commitment, or political passion. The most devastating terrorism attack in the United States was on September 11, 2001. Other U S attacks were the Manhattan attack in 1997, the Anthrax attack in 2001, a prior World Trade Center attack in 1993, the Wall Street Bombing attack in 1920, and the Kalama City bombing in 1995 (Askshintala, 2013). Terrorism attacks have also taken place in Israel, Greece, Chechnya a border between Russia and European countries and India (Askshintala, 2013). All of these attacks and other attacks that were not as devastating have become much of an international legal debate on terrorism. Terrorism should be criminalized under international law.
Terrorism is defined as the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments of societies in the pursuit of gals that are generally political, religious, or ideological by The United States Department of Defense("Terrorism research-what is," ). Terrorism can be classified in two different categories: International terrorism; not within the United States Jurisdiction and Domestic terrorism; within the United States Jurisdiction.
What is “terrorism”? Terrorism is a hotly contested term that is subjected to the reader’s political alignments. Most readers can agree that “terrorism” is a form of political action through violence that seeks to instill fear into a population, but defining “terrorism” becomes more complicated when being applied to groups and organizations. Lisa Stampnitzky’s “Can Terrorism Be Defined?” addresses this issue by drawing three important questions from the difficulty of defining “terrorism”: first, who is the enemy? Second, when is violence legitimate? Third, what is political? These three questions are instrumental in understanding terrorism while also understanding why certain groups are labeled terrorists and why others are not. This bias of
In Module one, I learned that terrorism is a result of physical harm or deadly acts of force with the intent of a political outcome by the use of terror for coercion. There are various types of terrorism such as international terrorism and domestic terrorism. International terrorism occurs outside of the United States with a purpose to influence the policy of a government by intimidation. International and Domestic terrorism both involve violent acts dangerous to human life that violate federal and state laws. Domestic terrorism occurs within the United States with the intention of coercion or intimidation by way of mass destruction, etc. Some forms of terrorism include Improvised explosive devices (IED), kidnappings, suicide bombings and
Many analysts, researchers, and professors have tried to define the purpose of terrorism. Some believe that can only be achieved when we know how the mind of a terrorist works. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes terrorism as, “The systematic use of violence or threat of violence by organized groups to achieve specific goals. Terrorist activities may be directed against individuals, organizations or governments. Terrorism is employed by radical groups to obtain concessions from established governments, such as a change in policies unfavorable to them or the release of imprisoned members of their organizations…” (Encyclopedia Britannica. “Terrorism” 1987 T-169)
Jean Paul Sartre’s point regarding how oppression is “so tragic… that it forces the oppressed to adopt methods as brutal as those of their oppressors, in order to win their share of human freedom,” gets to the heart of the terrorism issue. Stern states in Terror in the Name of God, that “suffering can lead to sin.” While Allen in Terrorism in History states that, “the source of evil cannot be intentionality, but helplessness.” Both of these authors seem to come to the same conclusion that by being oppressed, people are more likely to take whatever action they can to get the job done in their desperation. Oppression has even managed to encourage citizens to take up arms to oust a regime or otherwise make changes to a government for hundreds of years. Yehuda uses examples of political assassinations being sometimes the only way for these fighters to “gain power, publicity and attention.”
The quest to establish a universal definition of terrorism is entangled in questions of law, history, philosophy, morality, and religion by nature, a subjective one that eludes large-scale consensus. Terrorism is defined differently by different countries, nations and even department’s federal or state law enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives (NIJ).
Terrorism, then, is a type of political crime that makes use of murder and destruction or the threat of such violence in order to promote change. It is a specific kind of calculated violence with a selected target. Targets can include individuals, groups, communities, or governments. In most cases, excessive violence is used against innocent people which creates a fear that the terrorist can use for coercive purposes. This "fear" is usually directed at someone other than the victim. "In other words, terrorism is a psychological act conducted for its impact on an audience."(1) Since terrorists need publicity to inspire fear, they often seek more unusual events that capture and hold public attention.
The U.S. Department of State defines terrorism as, “The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological”. Whereas the Belgium Red Cross says that terrorism is committed “for the purpose of intimidating the population, forcing a third party to act or destablishing or destroying the fundamental structures of a country or of an international organization”.
Terrorism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal. The true definition is much more than that, though. The FBI splits terrorism into two subcategories: international terrorism and domestic terrorism. “International terrorism means
Terrorism has many forms, and many definitions. “Elements from the American definitional model define terrorism as a premeditated and unlawful act in which groups or agents of some principal engage in a threatened or actual use o...
The word terrorism was first used during the French Revolution from the reign of terror inflicted by the French from 1784-1804 ("International Affairs"). It was used to describe the violent acts perpetrated on the French that inflicted terror on the various peoples and instilled fear within them. However, at the time it had a more positive connotation than the term that instills fear today. During the French Revolution this was because it referred to state-sponsored terrorism in order to show the need of state instead of anarchy, sometimes promoted by other groups (Hoffman 2). Therefore, even though terrorism has taken a new nature, terrorism can refer to official governments or guerrilla groups operating outside national governments ("International Affairs"). In order to encompass terrorism’s various sectors and explain it to the public, in both positive and negative aspects, many analysts have tried to put it into a few words. Terrorism is a method used by tightly of loosely organized groups operation within states or international territories that are systematic in using deliberate acts of violence or threats in order to instill...
Terrorism has a tremendous impact on society. It is a rational act of violence and its purpose is to change behavior in a specific society. Terrorism is a political act that is meant to achieve a goal through the act of violence. The nature of terrorism is the nonselective targeting of individuals or a group in society with a goal. The intentions of